Delivering with purpose

Telstra has a proud history – we can trace our origins back more than 100 years. But we are now at an inflection point in technology, in telecommunications and for Telstra. We are at the dawn of 5G and about to enter a period of technology innovation which promises to provide some very exciting opportunities. But at the same time our business is under pressure because of increased competition and the rollout of the national broadband network (nbn).

To meet these challenges head on we are transforming to become a simpler, more agile organisation that can respond quickly to changing customer expectations. Change at this kind of scale brings special challenges, particularly for large, incumbent companies like Telstra. Our strategy to face squarely into these challenges is called T22.

Since announcing T22 just over a year ago we are already a different, simpler and more customer focused organisation. We have made a lot of progress, but it has also been a challenging year for our people. Last week we hit pause so our teams – in Australia and internationally – could come together to reflect on what we have achieved together and understand our focus for the next 12 months.

I am incredibly proud of the way the Telstra team has pulled together to deliver an extremely ambitious 12 month roadmap. We have kept our commitments and made sensible trade-offs where we needed to put the customers’ interests first. Our time together as a team last week was not about patting ourselves on the back, it was about recognising the hard work of our people, thanking them for their commitment and contribution over the past 12 months and being upfront about what is next as we continue to transform.

What we have achieved so far

We have radically simplified our products and services, introducing peace of mind data, no lock in mobile plans and retiring our 1,800 plus Consumer and Small Business plans and replacing them with 20 core plans backed up by a great digital service.

For Enterprise customers, we continue to be the best one-stop shop for all business-to-business technology needs, offering a portfolio of modular, curated, self-service and simplified products.

We have established InfraCo, a standalone infrastructure business unit, to drive performance and give us options post the nbn rollout. And, we have greatly simplified our structure and ways of working to empower our people and serve our customers – fundamentally re-engineering how we operate, removing complexity and management layers, cutting hierarchies and empowering teams making decisions closer to the customer.

Our focus for the year ahead

We still have a lot to deliver. However the fact that we have already confronted the need and scale for change that we are adopting helps. To hit our milestones this year, we will need relentless resolve to execute with urgency and precision.

I will talk more about this at our annual results announcement on Thursday, but essentially this year is pivotal – if we deliver to plan, we will see significant benefits from our ambitious transformation program by FY21 and beyond. These benefits will help build a new Telstra and propel us towards fulfilling our purpose.

Our purpose and values will guide us as we continue to transform

A couple of months ago we shared Telstra’s new purpose with our people – to build a connected future so everyone can thrive. In times of change all companies need to be clear on what they are trying to achieve and our purpose does that. It makes clear to everyone that we are committed to creating endless possibilities for our people, customers and communities, and it will guide us as we deliver T22 and beyond.

This purpose builds on our proud history and reflects the unique role we play in Australia’s future, as well as our role in empowering businesses in the global economy. Connectivity is at the heart of this – its power is so much more than networks and data.

My personal commitment to helping fulfil our purpose is to continue to be relentless in delivering the best networks and best technology, coming out of our deeper relationships – so that our customers experience the best services they need – first.

But fulfilling our purpose requires everyone at Telstra to understand how they can contribute to it. We put a callout to our people and many have shared their commitments to fulfilling it – in a range of internal forums like team meetings and more broadly on Yammer. In some cases these have been very creative – a shout out to Tyrone Floro from our Transformation & People team as one such example.

We have taken great strides towards becoming a company that is easier to interact with, offers great service and fewer, easier to understand and flexible products, all supported by Australia’s largest, fastest, smartest next generation network and world-class technology to deliver a market leading customer experience.

The year ahead will again be challenging, but I am incredibly optimistic about what our team can achieve together as we further simplify and digitise our business. There is a lot to be excited about.